Doc gives me an odd look, but then shrugs and unlocks the door to the kennel. I slip inside, crouching on the cement floor next to the small wolf.
One of the wolf’s eyes cracks open, briefly showing off a sliver of vibrant jade before sliding closed again. My heat skips a beat as sudden feeling of certainty rushes through me. I’m not sure what is it or how I know, but there’s something special about this shifter.
I reach out, resting my palm against the wolf’s flank for a second before gently stroking my hand down his side. His fur is almost brittle and his ribs are uncomfortably prominent, but his heartbeat is strong and his breaths even.
When my hand drifts toward his hind quarters, he attempts to curl into an even tighter ball, and I pick up a vibration in his chest that might be a growl. I bring my other hand closer to his nose so he can smell me, but the low growl continues and there’s no hint of the natural submissive instincts most shifters have when faced with an Alpha.
I pull away and cast a glance over my shoulder at Doc. “You were right to call me. He’s so lost in his wolf that I don’t know that he even recognizes me as an Alpha.”
But none of that matters now.
I reach toward the wolf again, placing my hand on his side and stroking his fur as I try to calm him. “Shhh,” I say. “Whatever happened to you, you're safe now.”
The wolf doesn’t respond, not even to open his eyes again, but the subtle growl stops and his muscles relax slightly.
“We’re here to help you,” I say. “But you have to shift.”
No response and no indication he’s attempting to shift.
I swallow, my gaze darting to the two expectant shifters behind me. The truth is, I’ve never actually forced a shift. In fact, the usage of my Alpha powers has been few and far between. Drawing on the energy of the pack when everything has been so unstable has been something I’ve tried to avoid.
There’s no other choice here, though. I picture Randall in my mind, remember the feeling of his voice and power rolling over the pack when he’d command us all the shift. He wasn’t the strongest Alpha, but he was experienced enough that the draw on the pack bond was almost nonexistent.
I close my eyes. “Shift,” I say, trying to mimic my memories of Randall’s Alpha command. Nothing happens, so I try again, this time putting more force into the word. “Shift.”
This time it definitely works.
A shiver passes over the small wolf and he begins to shift, the process messy in a way I've never seen, as if he's fighting against it. His entire body twists and contorts, yelps of pain punctuating each loud crack as his bones reshape themselves.
The young man who slowly emerges is as skinny in his human form as he was in his wolf form, his limbs gangly and awkward as he curls in on himself, panting and shuddering. White blond hair covers his head, the strands uneven and snarled together and the scent of absolute terror wafts off of him so strongly, I almost back up.
But a strong urge to comfort him wells up in my chest, and I reach toward him, making a soft noise deep in my throat that’s almost more wolf than human.
The second my fingertips brush against his shoulder, he yanks himself away, shoving his back against the wall with an audible smack. He curls his arms over his head, his mouth opening and closing with a silent cry as tears track down his cheeks.
My wolf whines anxiously in my head for me to help him, but I don’t know what to do without touching him.
I drop my voice into a soothing tone, trying to put as much comfort into my words as possible. “It's okay. You’re safe.”
But, if anything, his fear ramps up, gaze bouncing around the room, eyes wide with blind terror. The young man’s frail body won’t be able to withstand this state for long, his heart beating so fast I’m surprised it’s not bursting out of his chest.
“It’s—”
He snarls and bares his teeth at me, then leaps, knocking me onto my ass as his body rams into the chain link. He bounces off the fencing and crashes to the ground, his shoulder hitting the concrete floor with a loud crack. He yelps and tries to get up on all fours, but his shoulder gives out—probably dislocated—and he slams into the ground again. This time it’s his head that smacks into the concrete and blood begins to pour over the side of his face where he hit the floor.
At the sight of blood, my wolf goes absolutely nuts. Every instinct I have is screaming at me to do something… to comfort to protect to do fucking anything at all, but it’s like I’m frozen in place. I have no idea what to do.
Macy yells something at me from outside the kennel. It takes a beat for her words to register:Put him back to sleep.
That will work.
Drawing on the pack bond and calling up the power for an Alpha command is nearly effortless this time. The young man stills almost as soon as the word “sleep” passes my lips, his muscle going lax and his eyes sliding closed as he slowly slumps to the ground.
Seven
???
Awareness returns in bitsand pieces. A sound. A scent. The feeling of something soft brushing against my limbs. My hazy mind drifts along an unfamiliar current, glimpses of long forgotten memories flashing by too quickly for me to grasp. Through it all, something in my chest hums with a kind of contentedness I haven’t experienced in a while.
